Taken
by ciedan
Summary: Richard Castle is taken, but by whom and why?
1. Lost Castle

_AN: This fanfic is supposed to be spoiler free and therefore it should be possible to be read at any time._

_At the moment I plan to write it with a medium use of violence like every other crime story, so I guess a T+13 rating should be covering it._

_I try my best at proofreading, but English is not my first language and I will be grateful for style/grammar advise. I am sure that a couple of times I used the wrong tense, example: used simple past where past perfect should be used. Also I try to write as much as possible in 3rd person, so far I only needed 1st person for only some Castle scenes, because it is easier that way._

_And I hope that I neither killed the English language nor butchered a nice storyline for my readers._

_And kudos to all the other writers, because I realized now how hard it is to put the visions of a story into written form._

_Last but not least: I don't own Castle, and I came up with this plot and wrote it on my own, so no copyright violation intended._

**Lost Castle**

**Castles apartment:**

The living room is a mess, empty bottles are lying around and the furniture is moved. And this is not restricted to the living room, all rooms looks that way. But Rick Castle is preparing breakfast for his loved ones. The smell of bananas and cinnamon is flowing from the stove into the rest of the room. Fast foot steps on the staircase and a redhead in her school uniform arrives into the kitchen.

'Where are the pancakes and the scrambled eggs, Dad?'

'Good morning to you to, pumpkin. Take a look around. Someone had a party last night and they had a late night snack, so no eggs and bacon. And the flour for the pancakes, lets say it is now hazardous waste. So I had no choice but do prepare porridge.'

'Yuck', and a pair of rolling eyes is the answer of his daughter.

'Come on, you were 6 years old and liked it. At least try it.'

' That is 10 years history, Dad' is her reply underlined with a shrug as she takes a peak into the pot. ' I don't want to go down memory lane with this slimy something. Where is grandma anyway?'

Now he lifts his shoulders up,' You know her as good as me, she left with the last party guest and is most likely still on the prowl. And I am disappointed in you Alexis, only because the porridge is on the slimy side it doesn't mean it can't taste good.' 'Have a spoon full and if you don't like it spit it out, but try it at least', is his last appeal on his daughter.

'Sorry, Dad. Have to go or I will be late for school' is her easy way out of the situation.

'But you need something for breakfast!'

'I will grab something on the way' and with that she grabs her schoolbag and is out of the door. While, with a reminiscent expression on his face, Castle is looking at the door, he picks up a spoon and dips it into the porridge. As he put it into his mouth, he starts to move hectic. 'Hot, hot, aaaarg hot and tasty' mutters he.

**Exit of the building complex:**

'There she is, Rick should be alone now', says a woman in a blue leather coat, sunglasses and a baseball cap, which makes it hard to recognize the person, as Alexis leaves the building. 'Time to move', is the feint whisper heard by an employee in the building. As the elevator doors are closing, she removes the cap and glasses.

**Castles apartment:**

Rick hears the knock on the door, putting down his spoon into the plate with the porridge. He stands up and with a grin he starts toward the door nearly falling over an empty bottle of champagne. 'Changed your mind, pumpkin', he states. Taking a quick look through the spy hole in the door he sees a familiar person outside the door turning the back towards the door. But who else he knows wears these leather coats. 'What a nice surprise from my favorite detective to help me cleaning up this mess or to pick me up for another interesting day at the precinct.' As the person turns around he starts to stutter and stumble back into the apartment: 'Wait ... What's the meaning ...'

**Outside Castles apartment:**

She has already closed the gap to the door, so that only her back was outside the apartment and with the last step she is inside. She uses her left hand to give the door a thug to get it closed and steps further into the living room. And if there would have been any observer, he would be able to catch a glimpse of the Kel-Tec PF-9 held with her right hand pointing inside the room. 'What is the meaning of this,' Rick Castle wants to know more resolute now, but still a little bit high pitched. Somebody moves inside the apartment and with the door falling into the lock, one could believe it sounded like a gunshot and two bodies hitting the floor.

**The precinct:**

Detective Kate Beckett enters the hallway to her cubicle, vigorously rubbing at a stain on her blue blouse with a wet paper towel. Just as she walks past the break room Detective Esposito comes out of it, holding a fresh brewed cup of coffee in his hands. 'Morning, Beckett,' he started, taking a good look at the wet and brownish spot on the blouse, ' What happened?'

'Morning Esposito, some jerk spilled his Late on me and as if that wasn't enough tried to twiddle with the better parts of me', she explains in anger.

'Poor guy! Where is Castle by the way? Normally he waits for you with a nice cup of coffee,' replies Esposito.

'Not today, he called in earlier that his mother had a wild party last night, while we finished our last case, and he has to clean up the pigpen before it starts to smell.' 'Another poor guy, no party but cleaning duties,' says a smirking Esposito. Meanwhile they arrive at their desks, where Ryan is filling out reports.

'New cases which needs attention, Ryan,' Kate asks for an update.

'Nope, at least not for you and Castle, it seems we have a Bill killed Jill over Bob, but Esposito and me have it all covered so far.'

'OK, then I will take a break and change clothes, bring my jacket and blouse to a dry cleaner and drop of a package. I will be back in about an hour, if anything comes up, call me.' 'Yeah, boss,' the two replies in unisono.

**Somewhere:**

A dark, confined place with the sound of traffic is all what Rick Castle realize as he comes back to his senses. That and a pain he never experienced before in his left leg. 'Mhhasdf' come only out as he yells and he understands, not only is he gagged, but also are his hands handcuffed behind his back and his legs bound together with a crude cord. As he tries to get into a more comfortable position, the penny dropped, he is in a trunk. He is impressed by himself, because of the shock of what just happened it only took him so long to realize this. Wheezing he gets into a better position and just as he starts to make plans to get out of the trunk, the car hid something, if it is a curb, speed bump or a pothole doesn't matter. Only the effect it has on Rick counts, it send his head snapping upward, hitting the trunk lid with his forehead. The pain sends him back into the darkness of unconsciousness.


	2. Troubled Castle

**Troubled Castle**

**The precinct:**

It is already late afternoon, but the time past by without noticing, because everybody is tying up lose ends of their cases. Beckett got the reports from Lanie and CSU, which confirms what the suspect had confessed yesterday.

Ryan and Esposito are still working on that part, they had their suspect cracked too, but don't have the hard evidence to cover it up so far. And the lawyer of Mr. Shaw is already working on the angle of getting the confession revoked.

Captain Montgomery left his office and shouts:'Esposito, my office. You have a visitor from DA Mr. Vance office, who wants to talk about the Shaw case.'

With a sigh Esposito gets up and walks over to the captain's office. 'That's the reason I don't like these Bill-Jill-Bob cases Esposito, everyone tries to get these done in a rush,' says Beckett, taking the opportunity to tease him.

'But at least I don't need weeks and a bunch of specialist to crack my cases,' is his offhand response.

With a grin she returns her attention to the paperwork on her desk, and just as she has been back into the details of the report her phone starts to ring. With a moan of herself, knowing that she will need the same time to go back to the same point in the report as she used so far, she takes a brief glance of the caller-id Alexis Castle. 'Hi Alexis, still problems with your boyfriend?' she asks with a smile and a crook eyebrow.

After a couple of seconds, the smile already gone, she interrupts, 'Alexis, slow down and start again.' After the next outburst from Alexis, Beckett is all professional: 'I want you to close the door and go down to the doorman and wait there for us. We will be there in no time, bye.'

This catches Ryan's attention and he shifts his position, so he could see Beckett's face. She literally jumps out of her chair, simultaneous graping her holster, turning towards Ryan. 'Get me a couple of patrols to Castle's apartment, one should stay with Alexis, the rest covers the floor the loft is on, but they should wait on us. We will enter the apartment first', is her only order.

Then she storms into the captains room only to give out the short order: 'Esposito, road trip now', turns and is on her wait out again.

Esposito, glad that he has a opportunity to escape from the Assistant DA, leaps onto his feet and is with a murmured 'Excuse me' out of the door. A couple of quick steps brings him to his desk, where he picks up his weapon from the drawer.

'What's happening', he asks Ryan as they follow Beckett. 'Something bad comes down at Castles apartment', is his short answer. And with a 'Crap' Esposito conveys for the two the feelings at this moment.

**Castle apartment / building complex:**

They arrive at the building in less than a quarter hour. They get out of the car and don their bulletproof vest as Beckett starts to go over the plan once more:'If we don't get any new information from Alexis, we will go up clear the apartment and see what we get. Because the ground floor is so wide and open, we can split up. Esposito you will cover the stairs to the bedrooms, while ...'

'It is okay Beckett, you went already two times over the plan, lets move', interrupts Esposito while grabbing his AR-15. On the way to the doors they are shifting the vests into a more comfortable position, checking that the weapons are in the right position, tightening the vest and Esposito slings the AR-15 so that he can easier transition to his pistol if needed.

As they enter the building they are nearly overrun by a very nervous and agitated Alexis. 'Why did you need so long to get here? Anything could be going on up there ... '

'Stop it, Alexis', Beckett breaks in on Alexis flood of words, 'Calm down and give me details I can work with. And where are the patrols?'

'I came back from school and went up to the apartment', Alexis starts slow. 'As I opened the door the apartment was still a mess', she continues, picking up speed. 'But right there at the door was a big puddle of blood, and so I called you, came down here - waited so long – two patrols went up - secure floor – what's going to happen, what should I do?'

At the end she is so fast that an observer may believe she switched the language in mid sentence. Beckett, who heard her before in a similar state, nearly understands half of it, but it is enough. 'Give me the keys, Alexis, and we will check the flat', she tells her.

The three Detectives turn into the direction of the elevator and start walking towards it. Beckett turns her head to check Alexis, seeing that she joined their group. Beckett pauses. 'You stay here', is her order for Alexis and anticipating,' NO BUTS, you wait here, you did everything alright so far.'

Leaving her at the desk, the three enter the elevator and start their silent trip upwards.

They arrive at the right floor, surprisingly without awkward stops. Checking in with the officer on the floor, they get no new information.

Marching over to the door they get their weapons out and ready. Beckett slips to the other side of the door, turns and with a small nod of all of them confirm that everyone is ready to rumble. She knocks onto the door and yells out:' NYPD, open the door Castle.' No sound is heard, now she enters the key into the lock and opens the door, giving it a hard push.

Esposito takes his role as lead and steps into the room, yelling:'NY...PD.' Next Beckett enters the apartment, scanning the centerline from door to the windows and to the right from there.

Taking in the puddle of dried blood just a couple of steps inside the room, knowing that this is the reason why Esposito stuttered at his yell.

She turns right into the direction of his study. Last follows Ryan, covering the left side of the flat, keeping his distance to Esposito, but tagging along. At the stairs they split up. Esposito brings his AR-15 up into a high ready position, letting the muzzle point into the general direction of the upper stairs-head and Ryan proceeds to the kitchen area.

Meanwhile Beckett arrives at the study, after already checking the small guest bathroom. Taking a fast look into the study, she goes in. Scanning from right to left she takes in all the details she could: the laptop on the desk, pages of the next book printed out and put on to a rope, the murder board displaying the rough facts and nothing behind the desk. 'Clear', she calls out, only to hear a similar 'Clear' from Ryan at the cooking island.

After both of them returns to the stairs, Beckett takes the lead up. Esposito lowers his rifle just split seconds before Beckett enters his line of fire and gets ready to move. Ryan is the next on the flight of stairs as soon as Beckett is in the middle of it. So logical as soon as Beckett arrives at the top of the stairs and takes two steps into the hallway, Ryan is in the middle of it and Esposito starts his rise to the higher grounds of the flat.

Until all of them are upstairs Beckett only holds the position, then she gets a pat on her shoulder from Ryan. The two go to the first door on the floor, while Esposito kneels down to cover the hallway.

The two position themselves on both sides of the door, and like at the entrance door, on a nod Beckett opens the door and Ryan goes in. Ryan checks the left side, while Beckett follows and covers the right side.

It is Alexis room, which is tidy, a pile of books on her desk is the only thing resembling chaos. A couple of posters on the walls shows clearly what music taste she has, a couple of Haley Blue posters are still on the wall. A quick dash brings Beckett to the walk-in closet, ready to engage she opens the door to find only Alexis clothes in there.

'Clear' from her and a confirming 'clear' from Ryan ends the search inside this room. They go back into the hallway moving up to the next door. Esposito tagging behind them to trying to get the best position for suppression fire.

But it is not needed, they move from room to room only to find out that Martha is the most chaotic person in this household, which is not such a big surprise for them.

On their way back to the living room Ryan contacts the CSU:'Where are you guys? - Okay – Yeah, the apartment is secure you can come up as soon as you arrives. Bye.'

After he finishes the call he says:'The unit got hold up by some traffic jam, they will be here in ten minutes.'

They arrive at the blood puddle and Beckett put into words, what the three of them out of experience know:'Someone was shot here, and for a laymen it may seems a lot but normally the blood loss should not be life threatening.'

'At least it was not a professional hit', comments Esposito and after seeing two quizzical faces he points over to the couch. 'Didn't police his brass! Looks like a 9mm casing, perhaps we are lucky and CSU can lift a print'

'I wouldn't count on that, so let's assume Castle is the victim, which suspects do we have', Beckett asks. 'Besides all guys we put away since he joined the 12th, we had run ins with Italian mafia, Russian mob or it could be a kidnapping', Esposito starts.

Ryan adds: 'Jealous authors, Beckett, jealous husbands and not to forget all the Derrick Storm fans, who didn't like the way he disposed of his hero and decided to give him the same treatment. Oh my, Castle as a victim is worse than as a suspect!'

'What happened to my Dad', Alexis asks, standing in the door.

'Alexis, I told you to wait downstairs', Beckett reprimands her.

'That seems to run in the family, she wont wait in the car either', Ryan adds. While Beckett gives Ryan her evil stare, she goes over to Alexis, ' I know it is hard, but can you tell me if something is missing.'

Accompanied by Beckett Alexis walks through the apartment. 'Nothing seems missing, my Dads phone is on the kitchen island and there is still ...' she stops talking, taking a deep breath and continuous in a more broken tone 'He didn't finish his breakfast. I evaded eating it with him, if I would have stayed, nothing of this would have happened.'

'You could not have change anything Alexis, maybe it would be worse if you had stayed', assured her Beckett.

'Wait a second for me outside and we will talk, first I have to deal with a couple of things here', she ushers Alexis out of the door and closes it.

'Esposito, get a hold of Martha and let her come to the precinct, also copy the surveillance videos. Ryan, you will stay here with the CSU, make sure that the brass is processed first and sent to the lab. I will drive with Alexis to the precinct to get her out of here and also give the Captain a first report', with that she is on her way.

'Why did you name Beckett as one of the suspects, Ryan', Esposito asks.

'She threaten to shot him a lot in the past.'

'True', agrees Esposito.


	3. Get rolling

_AN: I think I have to change my point in spoilers, I will use some older cases for the them to work through in more detail. So there may be one or two spoiler for the first season and one short mentioning of two characters of the second season in this fanfic. This chapter will be a little bit dry, but it is needed so that some of the things I planed make sense._

**First night**

**Precinct:**

Beckett marches into the bullpen in one hand a shaken Alexis and in the other her cellphone, 'So Ryan, how far are the techs with bugging the phones in the house, ….., mhh that sounds good. Yeah let it get forwarded to my cell as long as none of them are in the apartment. Mhh …... get it to ballistic, maybe we get a lead from it. See you at the station.'

'So Alexis I want you to ...', started Beckett before Captain Montgomery comes charging out of his office.

'Detective Beckett, what is going on? Who gave you the authority to command Esposito out of my office while an Assistant DA preps for an important appearance at court?'

Only his own experiences with her, prevents that he rip her a new one. And after he realize that Alexis is also there, his instinct kicks in.

'Hello Alexis, nice to meet you again. And where is Castle', he asks.

Alexis starts sobbing, so Beckett turns to her first, 'Alexis, I want you to go into the break room and make yourself comfortable there. I have to talk to Captain Montgomery and I will check in on you in a sec.'

While watching her walk into the break room Beckett indicates that they better take their conversation into his office.

'So what's going on detective', he starts as he closes his door.

'I recommend you take a good hearty drought from your painkiller of the poor man first. You will need it, trust me.'

'That doesn't sound too good, but is it really that bad', he replies with raised eyebrows.

'It is worse! There was a shooting in Castles apartment, besides a small puddle of blood we found a casing and CSU just pulled the slug out of the wall and it is on his way to Ballistics. Until we have the test results for the blood and a sample CSU took from his tooth brush we operate under the tacit assumption that it is Castles blood.'

Montgomery takes a small sip out of his hip flask.

'To complicate matters even more Ms. Rogers had a party at the apartment last night, so CSU will be hard pressed to find some good evidence with all the trash lying around.'

Montgomery takes another sip out of his pocket bottle and held it to Beckett. She takes the offered bottle and without hesitation a good sip out of it.

'So what do you want to do, Beckett', he inquires.

'First of all I want to be the lead in this case, then my team will go over all the cases Castle helped to close to see if it is some back fire from an old case. I also took the liberty to already contact his publisher to get his fan mail one more time to check for another Kyle Cabot.'

'Yeah, I remember the first case of you two together', Montgomery chimed in.

'And naturally we have to check his social life, because it could be always a jealous husband. Last but not least, I let CSU already bug his phones, because it could be a kidnapping gone sour and there may be a ransom call', she finish with a sigh.

'I see a lot of motives for harming him, it will be a tough workload, I see to it that you get a couple of officer to help you sort trough all that data. He is one of ours after all', he says. 'Oh, the mayor wont like this', he adds and in expectation of the hell days coming his way takes another good sip out of the recovered pocket flask.

At that moment her cell rings, 'Hello. … No Martha I am not at the apartment. I am sorry to ruin your plans, but could you come to the precinct to pick up Alexis. … I will explain as soon as you arrive. Bye.'

Putting the cell in the back pocket of her jeans, she says: 'The forwarding of calls already paid of, Ms. Rogers called in to let Castle know she will be out of house today. And with the forwarding at least I could handle the situation, instead of an tech, who blurs things out which are better not told on the phone.'

'I can talk to her', Montgomery offers.

'No, I will do it, I have to. But could you inform Esposito that he no longer needs to search for Ms. Rogers.' With a small nod she leaves the offices and walks over to comfort Alexis till her grandmother shows up. Twenty minutes later Ms. Rogers enters the bullpen and dominates it like the diva she is, at least till the male detectives realize that she may be their own mother. After a short orientation and a moment of hesitation she makes her way to the break room.

Montgomery and Esposito meet at his desk and observe the event.

'These are the hardest conversations, it is already hard to convey this to strangers, but to tell it people you actually care for is heart breaking', Montgomery states calmly.

'I can feel her too', Esposito agrees.

After five minutes a even more determined Beckett leaves the room and steps to the two men. The three of them witness as Ms. Rogers literally collapse onto the couch and Alexis and she pulls each other into a hug. 'She has agreed to taking a room in the Hilton, so get into contact with the techs so they can set up the needed equipment for the tracing and forwarding of the calls from the apartment, Esposito. And Captain I would like to have at least two officers as a security detail with them, but make sure that Alexis and Ms. Rogers don't realize their purpose, best is to tell them they are needed by protocol to protect the equipment and techs.'

'Do you really believe that is necessary?' Montgomery inquires.

'We don't know the reason for what happened. And I don't play with the safety of these two, especially after I promised Castle to take good care of Alexis', is the somewhat cold answer Becketts. 'Get the things organized Esposito, I will start the investigation of motives with a visit of an old friend of Castle.'

'Do you want Ryan as backup?'

'No, Esposito, the more cops are involved in this visit the harder it will be to get some useful answer out of him.' And with extra emphasis on the next sentence she adds: 'You better take good care of Castles family, I will take you personal responsible for this task, do you understand?'

'Clear copy', Esposito snaps. And while the two men exchange bewildered glances, Beckett nearly runs out of the precinct.


	4. Where to?

_AN: Sorry for the delay, but I got caught up in some fanfic, namely Chuck vs The Buymore bomber and Chuck vs The grid. So here is the next chapter, hope you will enjoy it._

**Struggling**

**Outside the precinct:**

Beckett leans against the wall of the building, taking deep breaths to get herself back under control. She nearly had a breakdown in front of the Captain and Esposito and that would have cost her the lead in the investigation. So she had blurted out that she is going to investigate a lead. 'What a mess,' she thinks, 'now I have to cover for this. And with whom should I talk, who matches that description.' Mulling it over she makes the decision. 'Maybe it will bring some results', is her final ruling. Making a grimace she takes a good look at her shaking right hand and realize that she is in a state of shock. So far she didn't had a break and could go on Adrenaline. Beckett uses her willpower and a couple more cleansing breaths to at least get the shaking to subside. She needs to get active, right away. Or else she has to wait for hours for the case files or the fan mail to arrive.

**Little Italy 1am:**

As she enters the old and little bar, she knows why Castle like it so much. It has is own charm and the questionable character from some of the guest is part of it. Down the right side in a booth sits the person she wants to talk to. And Castle is one more right, a certain resemblance with Danny DeVito is there. She also spots the bodyguard of him. Playing it save she pulls her badge and starts walking in his directing.

'NYPD, I need to talk with your boss for a couple of seconds', she states matter of fact as she flash it. Without waiting for a response she steps to the booth, 'Mr. Tenor, NYPD, Detective Beckett, I would need your attention for a short time.'

'What does the police wants from me an honest businessman?'

'Mr. Tenor, I wonder if you have any information about the disappearance of Mr. Castle' she continues.

'What, Ricky disappeared? Take a seat and fill me in with more details.'

'He was violent taken from his home this morning, wait last morning and we follow all possible leads.'

'Wait', he interrupts, 'the only case he was involved which leads to me was the hit man, who went after The Rat. And honestly my business partner and me liked the way he solved it.'

Now it is her to fall into his words. 'Why exactly do you liked the outcome?'

'Simple put, you cracked that case so fast after the FBI agent was shot, there was no revenge from the agency against any family. And the guys from middle management and the lower thugs could be incorporated into other families without a problem. And some of them doesn't liked the son of the old boss and are happy that they got this chance to change their employer. And under us two, some capos of the families have their signed copies of "Storm Warning" in a show case, because they believe Castle described them in that particular book', Sal explains.

Quick thinking is a strong point of Beckett, which helped her in a lot of interrogations, so she came up with a daring proposal, 'Why don't you let the word get out why I was visiting you today. You may even drop a hint, that whoever comes up with a lead which brings Castle back will get an important role in his next book.'

Laughing Sal agrees, ' Yeah, that will most likely be an incentive some of them could not pass. They will turn the city upside down to find him.'

'That is fine with me', she murmurs.

**Some alley:**

It is some dark alley, Beckett realizes, which she is walking down. And somehow it is frightening familiar. No noise is heard, no movement seen. Fear creeps into her heart, it can't be good being here. Then she sees the body on the ground, her stomach tightens. 'No, it can't be Castle' escapes her lips. She covers the last meters in a flash, bends down and turns the body on his back. Castles lifeless eyes bore into her and she starts to sob.

'It is your fault, Kate', the dead body says.

She sits up, covert in sweat, the blanket drown onto the floor. Recovered she remembers, she went home after the conversation with Mr. Tenor and straight in bed. A quick glance at the clock shows it is 5:23 am. Knowing she can't get any more sleep, she heads to the bathroom. Taking a quick shower, gets her rid of the sweat, but not of the bad feeling. Forgoing the make up, she dons her clothes and steps out of her apartment heading to the precinct.

_AN: I should not have started with the location as head line as separators inside chapters. The correct one for the last part of the chapter would have been Becketts apartment, but it would have been a dead giveaway. So I had to use the location of the dream as banner._


	5. Paperwork

**The precinct:**

Beckett storms into the bullpen, hoping to find Castle sitting at her desk, but also knowing that he wont be there. Instead she found a red eyed Ryan sitting at his desk. 'Oh crap', she thinks, 'I ordered him back to the station and totally forgot him, while taking care for Alexis and my encounter with the captain.'

'Anything to report', she asks him, trying to cover up that she forgot him.

'No, there is nothing suspicious on the surveillance tapes. Only your twin sister gave me a moment of excitement. For a second I believed Esposito was right, that it was in fact you, who kidnapped Castle' he jokes.

'Twin sister?'

'Let me show you the highlights of the tape', Ryan starts, tipping a couple of commands on his keyboard, 'at 4:26 am Ms. Rogers and her entourage leaves the building.' Once more tipping a couple of commands and after that he continuous, '7:15am your twin enters the building, finish of her coffee and only the nose is a giveaway that this is not you. 7:22am Alexis leaves and your twin enters the elevator. Then a lot of unexciting day to day business, and at 6:49 pm Alexis returns. 6:53 and she is back in the lobby waiting for us. The rest is history. So my guess is, whoever took Castle entered and left through the backdoor which is currently without video surveillance.'

'Why currently?'

'Somebody moved the camera, so that it records the ceiling and because they store only the last 48 hours, we know that it happened before the first of march at 8:23 pm.'

'How comes that nobody realized that the camera is in a odd angle?'

'They don't watch the feed, they only store it and grab it when something happens.'

'So much for security', she says and Ryan nods in agreement. 'Anything to add?'

'Yeah, it seems the girl from Records is a fan of Castle. I didn't have seen case files arrive up here so fast , especially all of the cases requested. I didn't went through them, because I thought I would recall a person connected to any case we worked, if they show up on the security tape. And besides at this time nobody would be in to confirm the whereabouts of the persons in the files. And while we are at that point, where have you been all the night.'

'I went to a bar and visited an old source of Castle within the mob. And to ensure his safety I allowed him to advertise why I was there. Maybe the cheesy promise will harvest some clues about Castles whereabouts. While the bar was so close to my apartment I decided to get a couple hours of sleep, so that I wont be running all day on midnight oil.'

'What type of promise?'

'That Castle will give to whoever finds him a prominent role in his next book.'

Ryan stares at her in disbelieve.

'Good work, Ryan. Go home and catch some sleep. I will take over from you and start sifting through the files', she ends the conversation.

Ryan greps his keys and while on the way out, he takes a quick glance over his shoulder and sees Beckett at her desk begin going through the first folder.

**Precinct, Noon:**

As Ryan enters the bullpen, the quiet atmosphere from the night was gone. It is more like an asylum, with officers and detectives running around trying to connect facts. Only Beckett is like the unmovable object, keeping her cool while turning the pages of a case file. Ryan heads her way, 'What did I miss while taking my power nap?'

'Karpowski is working the fan mail, but no leads there. Esposito and me are working the case files, but also no leads so far. CSU fund an laundry cart near the back exit, it has blood smears in it. So your theory with the attacker using the back door seems confirmed. The blood in the apartment is the same blood type Castle has, but the DNA test will need at least 12 more hours before it is done. And least Ballistics has narrowed the most likely used gun down to a Kel-Tec PF-9, P11 or P3AT and they also need some more time to be precise. Before you ask,' she starts the explanation for a stunned Ryan,' the PF-9 uses parts from the other two guns. So these three leave for the first impression similar imprints on casing and slug and only macroscopic details make the difference.'

'So whom should I help,' Ryan asks.

'Best would be to give Karpowski a hand. She has all her hands full with the fan mail. Do you have some time this evening, Esposito and me will be visiting Alexis and her grandmother at the hotel.'

'You can count on me, they must feel horrible right now,' he says.

**Precinct, 2:13pm:**

Beckett is desperate, only two cases left on her desk and not a clue. Because all the perps they had caught are safely in custody and in this case they put him six feet under.

'Beckett, I got something.' Esposito turning around in his wheelchair exclaim. 'Chloe Richardson escaped from Richmond Asylum five days ago.'

Beckett takes the information in, biting her lower lip. Mulling it over she locks eyes with him, 'It doesn't sounds right, five days ago I would have said she goes to the grave, her child or commit suicide. Going after Castle would not be a option I would have guessed. But update her BOLO that she is a person of interest in Castles disappearance, better we play it save.'

**Hilton, 7:00pm:**

The meeting between the three detectives and Martha and Alexis is awkward, mostly because four of them stayed in their roles of firm believers that Castle comes back unharmed and one is a real believer. The three detectives and Martha have to play along for the sake of Alexis.

Beckett nearly had a break down as Alexis turns to her, her innocent blue eyes shining, 'I trust and believe in you Beckett, you will bring my dad home.'

This scares Beckett, knowing how many of the promises were made to calm Alexis down.

As the room service brings the snacks and some bottles of juice and water, Martha pulls Beckett to a side of the room, inquiring about the worst case scenarios.

Beckett knowing that she can't fool a worldly woman like her, stays true to the facts and her experience.

'The longer there is no ransom call from some kidnapper the more likely it is that it was an act of vengeance. But the fact that we didn't found his body or a Jon Doe matching his description contradicts that theory. So in a sum: this is not like a case we worked before. We are looking into a couple of suspects and I promise you I will not stop till I find him.'

Returning back to the others, both knew the hardest part of this evening just has started.

_AN: So with this chapter done, I believe I can smell some gun play in near future. Only half a chapter to get it really going left and then hopefully the ride of emotions and action can start. And a mystery has solved for me to. The bad action movies with all their illogical cause for gun play make perfect sense, it is really hard to set these events up while staying true to reality. And it takes time, in this fanfic I needed 1.5 days (story time) to get all players into the right position._


	6. The call

**Second Day, Precinct, 6am:**

Esposito walks after a troubled night into the bullpen only to see that Beckett is already there. 'Couldn't sleep either, what are you reading', he asks.

She looks up sighing, ' This cases is so weird, I can't make out a motive, everybody loves Castle or at least enjoy his juvenile charm. This is the assessment from Dr. Holloway of the more aggressive fan mail. Although they are all dismissed as suspect by him, and checks by uniforms confirmes that they all had good alibis, the nearest from them were 100 miles away. But still I have the feeling we are missing something, something important.' With that she turns to the case board, going once more over the few facts they have established so far.

One by one all the other detectives arrive in the precinct next is Ryan followed by the Captain and Karpowski. Even some of the officer from the patrols show up early to get a clue how the investigation is going.

These officer bring Beckett to the realization that Castle is truly one of them, because if not they wouldn't be here on their off time trying to help with the case. She even believes that Castle could coax his way into any public position like Mayor or even Governor.

**Precinct, 8:17am:**

Still no new leads and Beckett claws for any so small clue to get nearer Castles save return, but nothing pans out. Beckett has this tugging in her stomach, she all ways has when her instinct tells her she misses something of importance. BANG, startled all of them turn to the sound, Beckett, her boys and some other detectives instinctively reaching for their sidearm only to relax after they see it is the door from the Captains office slammed into the wall. 'Beckett, you and your team are needed at the hotel, they got a ransom call.' he shouts.

**Hilton, 8:40am:**

As the three enter the hotel room they instantly take in the mixed signals floating in the air. Relieve that the lead is there and they can get rid of the responsibility from the officer at the scene, because taking a wrong step may cause the death of the writer. The adrenaline, which indicate the readiness for taking all the steps necessary to prevent the former and naturally the joy of Martha and Alexis that they may get Castle soon back. Although Alexis face shows reluctance as she locks eyes with Beckett.

Beckett taken aback by that, walks straight to the techs, 'Could you trace the call?'

He shakes his head, 'No, didn't last long enough to get a fix on it.'

'I want to hear the call for myself!'

The tech flips some switches and with a crackling sound the recording starts to playback.

'Rogers speaking.'

Male voice 'Ms. Rogers, I assume you are itching to hear from me.'

'Who is this?'

'Let's say I have something you want urgently.'

'And what would that be?'

'Your injured son naturally!'

'I … I would need prove.'

'Sure you would, but business first, one million dollar in small bills, this evening or we call the transaction of and cut our loses. And you wont that happen to your son. I want Alexis to carry the money in a army duffel bag. At 5pm she has to be at Broadway corner Broome street, under the park bench there she will find a cell phone duct taped. She will get the next instructions as soon as we see her pick it up. And don't try to play me, I know her from the news coverage of various events she went to with her father.'

In the back ground they could hear Castles voice drifting in and out, 'It hurts …... it really hurts. …... Alexis …... mother.'

'I believe you heard your son rambling in the background, so your proof that he is still alive is also made.'

There is one click and the loud speaker goes silent. The three detectives look up from the speaker and they share a grin and they could see the glimpse of hope shinning in the eyes of their counterparts. Suddenly Beckett's grin vanish and she turns towards Alexis, understanding the mixed signals she was sending to her earlier. Straightening she makes her way over to her and indicates with a nod of her head that she wants to talk to her in the corner of the room. Alexis gets up and everybody in the room could see that she made up her mind and would stick to her decision.

'Are you sure you can make the drop without endangering yourself', Beckett simply ask.

'I would have bet on you trying to forbid me doing it', a surprised Alexis stammers.

'How can I? When I let Castle made something similar and we all know you are more mature than him?'

'Thanks', Alexis whispers.

'But you will be bugged and have a tracker on you and when there is only the slightest reason to believe you are in danger, Esposito will drag you to safety. I promised your Dad to keep you save and I will.'

'That is okay with me', a happy Alexis agrees, more because she didn't have to argue why she has to do the drop than thinking about the implication these ground rules bring with them.

On her way back to Esposito and Ryan Beckett leans to Martha and asks, 'Can you really get your hands on that much money in that short time?'

'With my and Richards savings and a little help from his publisher I should make it just in time' she replies confident.

As she steps to the other two detectives, she takes notice of their grim faces. 'Why are you two looking so sour?'

'I don't like his starting point, he will let Alexis run up and down through Little Italy and probably Chinatown and you know how cops stand out in that area. We wont have the ability to have some officers close to her at all times. It is like they know our worst nightmares,' Esposito states and get a even scarier facial expression.

'Little Italy you said, I believe I have the right man at my hands to get us the best observation points there are', Beckett says with a widening grin.

'The capo', Ryan asks.

'Yeah, I think Castle will be pissed when he get the bill from the mobster when he is back. He don't like it when somebody tells him what in his book has to happen.'

**Little Italy, 5pm:**

She was right, the outlook to be the anti-hero in Castles next book let some of the hard core fans under the capos melt like chocolate in the sun. They got their observation points, naturally after they were cleaned of all incriminating evidence. Beckett paces up and down in her provisional commando post, all she could do is wait and see what will happen. She knew that there is really a cell phone under the park bench, an undercover officer confirmed it, while pretending to tie his shoelaces at the location.

'Alexis is near the bench', she could hear Esposito on the radio, ' picked up the radio like a pro. Moving out of my sight, no tail I can make out. I will give her 50 yards and start shadowing her', is his next radio message.

Espositos assumption proved correct, the kidnapper is chasing Alexis up and down through Little Italy, she passed Becketts commando post three times and only his distance to her and Alexis radio messages prevents that he has to run up and down the streets too. He can stand at one corner pretending to be interested in the merchandize sold there till Alexis is lead into another part of Little Italy.

'Got the next message', Alexis stained voice states over the radio, 'I have to drop the duffel bag in the container around the next corner at the 7-Eleven. And leave the way I came.'

'When Ryan and me leave our post we will have a clear view of the container. And when push comes to shoves, we will be able to pose as a couple in dire need for a hotel room', Karpowski calls in.

'Esposito, as soon as she made the drop, close in on Alexis and bring her to the units at Broome street', Beckett instructs him.

Karposki: 'We have visual of the container. Alexis is doing the drop right now.'

Esposito: 'Closing in.'

Karpowski: 'No movement here, changing location to the south.'

Esposito: 'Escorting Alexis.'

A sigh escapes Beckett knowing that it will get chaotic in the next minutes, and not sure if she should move to the container or Alexis. So she decides to stay put and watch how it will play out.

Karposki: 'Suspects moves to container, 6 foot, white male, blue jeans, red shirt and baseball cap. It is a positve, he dives for the duffel bag. He has it, moves south.'

Esposito: 'Alexis is save with the uniforms at Broome, double back to the container.'

Beckett checks with the map and makes a decision, 'Units 5 and 6 leave position and met up with unit 2, tag team observation of the suspect.'

'Unit 5 confirms, trying to converge at Centre Street corner Worth Str..'

'Unit 6, clear copy. Setting up rally point Centre Street/Canal Street.

Karposki: 'Getting near Canal Street. As soon as Unit 6 has visual on suspect, we fall back. Wait suspect meets somebody. Second suspect 6'3'', wearing black shorts, blue shirt.'

Ryan: 'I have seen the new suspect somewhere before. I have to lea.. Crap he made me, we are busted. They are running in the direction of Unit 6.'

Beckett makes a quick decision on her feet: 'All units go get them. Don't let them escape.'

All over Little Italy two men teams come running out of their observation post, some had the opportunity to grab their NYPD wind breaker. Kate comes alone out of her post, because Esposito is still with Alexis, but she knows she is to far away from the action to be of any help. Also the patrol cruiser stationed farther away start to move in with blue lights and siren on. The radio erupts with multiple calls from the different teams, calling in their progress of closing in.

Ryan and Karpowski running behind the suspects are closing in, their eyes only on their prey. The two of them take turns in shouting, 'NYPD, stop!' Both are surprised as the man with the duffel bag is tackle down by the two officers of Unit 6. As they close in on the last suspect, Karpowski makes the leap and brings him down like a NFL pro. They roll around on the side walk and luckily she comes out on the top. Grabbing his arm and bringing it painful up on his back, she handcuffs the stunned man in seconds.

'Are you okay', a huffing Ryan asks, while he bents over to rest his hands on the knees.

'I had worse fights in the precinct, this is a piece of cake.'

They can hear the radio call from Unit 6, 'Suspect under control.'

So Ryan grabs the radio, 'Second suspect apprehended.'

Beckett hears both radio messages and slows down to a jogging speed instead of the dead run she was going. With all the suspects detained she starts thinking, 'This sting operation definitively didn't go as planned. But what does this mean for Castle?'

_AN: There goes my chance of gun play for at least the next two or three chapters. But I hope what I have in my mind is better than letting Beckett kneecap one of the suspects now. I am sorry, if there is no 7-eleven in that part of the city, but I was never in NY, so I am working only with maps._


	7. Turn around

**The precinct, 6:20pm:**

Beckett, Ryan and Captain Montgomery ogle the two men in the interrogation room through the mirror.

'Although you two recognize Mr. White from somewhere, we only have their names and the address they have given us. We know shit about them, Esposito just got the warrant for their apartment and is on his way there', Captain Montgomery summarize the situation. 'Can you really go in there Detective Beckett?'

'I hate it to go into a interrogation unprepared, but in this case every minute may count.' So she straightens a little bit and leaves the observation room. At the door to the interrogation room she rests her head on it, composing herself for what she has to do with a deep breath.

Opening the door in one fluid move and with a brisk step she enters the room.

'Mr. Meyers, Mr. White I am Detective Beckett because you have claim your right for an attorney you are not supposed to answer me. You were caught red handed at the crime scene, we even have video tapes and found the cell phone which sent the instructions for the drop on you. But instead of helping us to find Mr. Castle you claim your right to consult with an lawyer, is that correct?'

'Yeah, we want our lawyer and that you leave us alone now', snorts Mr. Meyers.

Beckett turns back towards the door, 'That is good, it prevents misunderstandings. Like the one a year ago.' She fakes a shiver and starts to leave the room.

'What misunderstanding?'

'Hm, oh a petty theft was put into booking and somehow the cell mates believed he is a child molester so they took justice into their own hands. It wasn't pretty, all beaten up and they needed fifteen stitches for his …. don't mind as long as nobody mentions Alexis in an ambiguous way you two should be fine in the holding cell.'

The two men exchange a quick look, which she sees in the mirror. 'Hook, line and sinker', she thinks while suppressing a wolfish grin.

'Wait, we changed our mind, we don't need a lawyer.'

Turning around she starts with the most pressing question, 'Where is Castle?'

'We don't know.' And seeing her face getting hard again he adds, 'we are con mans, no kidnapper. Don't you remember me bringing up the snacks yesterday. While I did my deed as room service I overheard your conversations about his disappearance and that there was no ransom call so far. And after I heard the old woman talk how much money she could produce in a short time with one of the officers, we believed it could be our last con. And after two days I thought he is dead anyway, so we could skim of some extra money. No harm done,' he finish his confession.

Beckett storms to the desk, bringing down her palms with a resounding boom. She hisses, 'You better start praying that he will show up unharmed, or I will see to it personally that you will be charged as accessory after the fact with murder. Have fun in the holding cell.' She turns around and rushes out of the room.

Captain Montgomery is awaiting her, 'What did you think while threatening them with rape.'

'I never said he was raped, he was beaten up pretty bad and needed fifteen stitches for a cut at his hairline. If the two misunderstood me then it is not my fault. And besides they cost us a full day we could have used to find Castle instead of chasing these imbeciles. Although there are still questions like "How could Castle be heard during their ransom call?" I believe these morons that they didn't took him.'

She walks away from him without waiting for a reply and at her desks she crumbles into her chair. Then she sift through the reports that arrived during the long day. But only the ballistic report brought new information, they have the forensic evidence that the weapon used was a Kel-Tec PF-9. 'Right, that will reduce the list of suspects to a couple ten thousand, because it is only a couple of years on the market', she thinks sarcastic.

Somebody clears his throat next to her, startled she looks up, it is Ryan. 'Yeah?'  
'Esposito has called in, some of the things he found support the statement of the two dirt bags.'  
'So what did he discover?'  
'Room service uniform for Mr. Meyers complete with access cards for the hotel. Then some calling cards for a psychic named Mr. Light and notebooks with various information on different hotel guest. These seems to be their daily con jobs. And a laptop with some music program. It seems they cut parts out of interviews and let it playback during the ransom call. After his call I checked with the hotel and at least Mr. Meyers has an solid alibi, he was working at the hotel during the kidnapping.'

'Damn it, there has to be a lead, this can't be the perfect crime. Go over the surveillance video one more time I want everyone showing up in it accounted for.'

'No problem, and what will you do?'

With a sigh Beckett stands up, 'I will break the bad news to Alexis and Martha.' Remembering the last time she adds, 'You don't need to wait for me, when you are finished or need a break go home. When the break in this case comes Castle needs you to bring your A-game.'

Nodding Ryan heads over to his desk to go over the tape one more time.

**Hilton, 7:05pm:**

Beckett stands in front of the hotel room not ready to knock on it, but she knows the longer she waits the harder it will be. And with a final sigh she knocks on the door.

An officer opens her the door and with the usual exchange of 'Detective' 'Officer' she enters the room.

Seeing Beckett Alexis jumps on her feet and ask with a breaking voice 'Where is my Dad?' Beckett shakes her head and lowers her eyes to the floor. 'Oh no', she cries and fall back on the couch.

Beckett looks up and scolds herself for sending the wrong signals, 'Alexis, that is not what I meant.'

'And what did you mean, Kate', Martha asks, while stepping to the couch and take Alexis into a firm hug.

'The nut jobs calling in the ransom are not connected to the disappearance of Castle. They only tried to con you into paying the ransom. One of them works her at the hotel, that is the way they got the information needed to pull it of.'

'Where does this leave us?'

'Empty handed, but as I promised you before I will not stop to search for him', with that Beckett leaves the hotel room with a bad feeling.


	8. Long day

_AN: From this chapter on I will change the format of the headlines to "time, hours since kidnapping" for future references. Because I needed to scroll up to check how many days it has been, so for you my dear readers it should be even worse. I hope this will help you to keep track of the story. So lets get it started_.

**9:07 pm, ~62h:**

After a short stop to pick up Chinese takeout Beckett returns to the precinct. Ryan is powering down his PC. 'Ryan, how far did you get with the surveillance tape?'

'From midnight till one hour after the time we estimate Castle was taken I could identify nearly all persons entering or leaving as tenants of the building. For the last thirteen I didn't recognize I will check in with George on my way home. If he reveals something new about them I will contact you.'

'Want some of the takeout for on the way?'

'No thanks, I will have dinner with Jenny. Do you have anything.'

'No, this is the worst case ever.'

'Night, Beckett.'

'Night, Ryan.' With that the two of them part, one to settle in for another long night and the other to get a little distance from the case or it will eat him alive.

Dumping her purse and jacket on the chair Beckett takes a quick overview about the reports, nothing new since she left for the hotel.

She needs something to do or else her imagination and experience will drive her nuts, so heading over to the meeting room she takes in how Karpowski set up the fan mail. Luckily for her it is an easy system, on the tables in the middle of the room are the unprocessed letters in boxes and on the sides of the room boxes labeled with "Unsuspicious", "Second opinion" and "Forward to Dr. Holloway".

The takeout is already forgotten as she takes a seat and picks up the first letter. The time seemed to fly and after what seems only a couple of minutes, but are hours she went through a lot of letters. Most of these letters were sent from female groupies with pictures attached, which were nearly from the quality you see on porn sites. Some angry letters about the death of Storm, followed by letters from the same writers stating that Nikki Heat is even better. The lone angry mails and crazy ones went into the basket for Dr. Holloway to double check.

Around midnight her stomach growls and she realized that lunch was the last meal she had. Standing up she goes to her desk and picks up the cold noddles. After getting the noddles nuked in the microwave she settles on the comfy couch in the break room. Deciding she will head home after her snack.

**2:13am, 67h:**

Beckett moves down an deserted alley, a bad felling in her stomach. Near to the next intersection she sees a woman standing, who looks on the ground. Beckett wants to stop, but something pulls her towards the unknown woman. As she gets closer she sees another body lying on the ground. 'Oh no', she whispers.

Something about the woman stirs up a feeling, she knew her. Beckett is only an arm's length away from her. She can smell copper and as the woman turns around she looks into the eyes of her mother, 'It is your fault that he is dead! You killed him!'

'Yeah, you killed me', Castle agrees.

'Nooo', Beckett yells as she sits up on the couch, 'Damn it, another nightmare.'

**6:15am, 71h:**

Ryan nearly runs into Esposito, who stands in the hallway leading to the bullpen. 'Morning bro, what are you doing?'  
'Take a look for yourself', Esposito says while pointing into the bullpen. 'When did you see her act like that the last time?'  
Ryan steps next to him and takes a good look. Beckett unaware of her surroundings is at the murder board, sliding up and down in front of it. Her nose is only inches away from the board when she tries to get a better look at the pictures posted on it. Then she takes a step back and looks into the case file for something, but there isn't more to add. So she starts the routine one more time going over every aspect, her nose again short of making contact.

'It reminds me how she acted in the home invasion case', Ryan comments.

'Yeah and only Castle could stop her', Esposito agrees.

'She wont like my report about the surveillance tape.'

'You pulled a blank.'

'Indeed, except ….'

'Except what bro?'

'Our Beckett twin is a little bit on the slutty side. George remembers that she entered the building with a couple different tenants. Sometimes leaving after half an hour, sometimes staying longer.'

'You think she is a professional?'  
'It could be, but it is not relevant for the case.'

'But what should we do with her', asks Ryan.

'Lets observe her and if she get's worse we can always tip of Lanie.'  
'Sounds like a plan for me.'

The two walk over to their desks, greeting Beckett. She acknowledge the detectives and instead of prancing in the front of the white board she takes a seat at her desk and starts pushing case files from right to left on it and then from left to right. Every now and then she takes a peak at the board comparing it with the notes in the file she holds in her hands.

But no new leads came up.

Ryan and Esposito work their lists, making sure that nothing goes unnoticed, but even fine combing doesn't reap results.

**11:30 am, ~76h**

Ryan's phone rings, picking it up he says, 'Detective Ryan, Homicide …. that is correct …. Where? …. How did she get there? …. When? …. Does she has proof? …. No, then she alibis out, we don't need to interview her. …. Thanks for the call.'

Slamming the telephone receiver he turns around and states, 'We officially have zilch. Our last suspect just alibied out.'

'Details, Ryan', Beckett commands.

'They caught Chloe Richardson playing with her kid at the orphanage. And it seems that she had receipts for the bus on her. They are checking the surveillance from the bus stations for the time Castle vanished, but I don't believe that she didn't took the bus.'

A visibly shaken Beckett grasps her purse, 'I go have lunch, call me if something comes up.'

The detectives nod and watch her leave the bullpen, sighing as she takes the turn which will lead her deeper into the building.

'Good, she is heading for the morgue. That is one awkward call less we have to make.'

'True, bro, true', Esposito agrees.

**11:36 am, ~76h:**

Lanie looks up from her paperwork as somebody burst into the morgue. Taking in the appearance of Beckett she stands up and closing the distance to her. With a closer look she can see the make up, put on in a thick layer around the eyes. 'Kate, something happened?'

'No, everything is fine. I simply have no leads to find Castle. I only know that the blood was his, what type of weapon was used, but no suspect turns up. It is like the perfect crime he would write about.'

'Kate, that is not what I have meant. You look like you didn't sleep in the last couple of days.'

'It is nothing.'

'Come on, girlfriend. You may fool the other detectives, but not me. I can see the make up, you know.'

'Okay, I will spill, but if you tell anybody I deny everything.'

'Deal.'

'I have nightmares every time I try to sleep. You know the alley my mother was found in?'  
Lanie nods.

'I walk the alley down, half the times I only find him dead on the ground and he blames me. The other times …'

'The other times, what Kate?'

'My mother stands over him and both blame me.'

'Oh my' Lanie says, before she pulls Beckett into an embrace and starts to let her hand move in comforting circles on her back. 'Do you believe that Castle went behind your back and was digging in your mothers past?'

'No, I only fear it and that I lose Castle to the same shadow man I lost my mother to', Beckett sobs into her shoulder.


	9. Deadline

**12:22 am, ~77h:**

A red eyed Beckett returns from her break. 'Ryan, Esposito let's try a different approach, don't check for known enemies of him.'  
As the two look up with a confuse face, she continuous, 'I want to know everything about Castle: financial status, see if there are any red flags on his phone records, his whereabouts for the last weeks, girlfriends and everything else you can think of.'

'Road trip', Esposito says as he toss the keys to Ryan.

**9:10am, ~98h:**

'Damn you, Castle' Esposito says, while putting the receiver down. Beckett turns with raised eye brows. 'That was the last woman Castle was rumored to have a sexual relation with. And like all the others before, it was the same story. They went out for publicity reason only, both happy with the PR and as long as the press believed they had sex there was no need for it. And Castle was always the perfect gentleman. The last person I could proof had sex with him was a ….' Esposito looks down on his notes, sifting through a couple of pages, 'Ellie Monroe and she has a perfect reason to want him well and writing, because every book he writes about Nikki Heat may lead to another movie. And with that to a very good payday for her.'

'Don' cry, at least you could get all the phone numbers of these hot women. I had to dig through his financial of the last three years. And mark my words there aren't any women there', Ryan says.

'So what did you get', Beckett inquires from him.

'The only transaction which raised red flags can be accounted for, a payment to Denton and one to Coonan. A weird investment into an indie film, I checked with is fond manger. It was to get his first ex-wife out of town after the deep fried twinky incident. And last a cappuccino machine delivered to another address than his home.' With the last words his gaze shifts to the break room.

'Ryan, why don't you fetch for each of us a nice cup of coffee', Beckett agrees his unasked question.

'It is unbelievable how good our bad boy writer is', Esposito states, 'White like fresh fallen snow. I believe there aren't that many cops out there, who would come up with so easy to explain red flags if they get roasted by Internal Affairs for the last three years.'

'Is that so', Beckett asks.

'Okay, but you have to agree it is natural for us to be also clean, we worked the last three years with Castle', Esposito says with a big grin on his face, which don't last that long. 'So we looked into all aspects of Castle known enemies and suspicious behavior from him and come up empty handed. Even the wackos sending him fan mail came back with alibis, at least those who wrote to him. Where do we turn next to?'

'I don't know', she confess. 'But I wont stop till I have found him.'

**1:20 pm, ~102h:**

Captain Montgomery steps silently behind Beckett. 'May I have a word with you in my office Detective', he asks with a soft voice.

The two of them walk over to his office. As soon as they are in it and the door is close, Beckett turns to face the Captain, 'What is it you can't discuss in front of all the detectives?'

'I want to take you of this case and let you handle a fresh one, just got in a floater with a GSW to the head', Captain Montgomery says bluntly.

'You can't do that. You know what that will do to the moral of the precinct, Castle knew nearly all the beat cops by their first name, something Detectives working here longer than him didn't approve as necessary. He never threatened them as some errand boys, he acknowledge their hard work. That are the reasons we had so much manpower over the last days, they came in while off duty to help. They will also start thinking if we let Castle case slip into a "Cold Case" after a meager day, what will they do with my case if the culprit isn't standing with a smoking gun above my body. I can't move on and wait that his ….', she can't finish her sentence.

'Body is found', the Captain finish it for her.

'Don't you dare say it, he has to be alive.'

'Beckett, let's face the facts after four days his chances of being found are marginal. Especially with no leads, I have read all your reports. I am impressed, what an amount of data you worked through in this short time, but without leads I can't let that many detectives idling around. There a murders we need to catch now, with actual body's lying around.'

'So you are saying he is most likely dead, but you wont let your best homicide team work the case?'

'Okay, you can stay on his case for three more days, but if you don't have a lead by then I will pull you of the case. And I need someone working the floater!'

Without hesitation she answers, 'Esposito can work the floater with Karpowski, the two make a good team and he will need the experience for a promotion. Where is the dead?'

'Down at the docks, warehouse 68.'

'I will tell them', with that she leaves his office.

On her way to her desk she stops at Esposito, 'Grasp Karpowski, then head down to the docks, warehouse 68. You will be lead in the investigation of that case.'

Turning to Ryan she says, 'You better call Jenny, 'cause there are a lot of long days in front of us. We are on a dead line, if we don't find a suspect in the next three days we are of the case.'

Leaving the two shocked detectives behind her, she walks into the restroom and hides in one of the cabins for a quarter hour to get herself composed again or else she would start crying in front of all the other detectives.

**12:16 pm, ~150h:**

The next two days vanished in a blur for Beckett and Ryan while going over the facts multiple times, but it didn't change anything. They still have zilch.

And the new case Esposito is working at doesn't fare to well either. Beckett had overheard various conversation Esposito had with the Captain. Without getting the details she knew from the tone of the conversation that the Captain doesn't liked it. A really bad week for the department.

She is reading a report, which she had read so often she could quote it in her sleep as somebody steps at her desk and clears her throat. Looking up she sees her best friend standing there, 'Lanie, what you doing up here?'  
'Girlfriend, don't freak out. I have good, bad and worse news for you.'

_AN: I really struggled with this chapter. On one side I didn't want to give you the impression that I am rushing the story line on the other side I didn't want my readers dropping of their chairs, 'cause they fell asleep during a real boring chapter. And I see the end coming up, only four / five chapters to go._


	10. John Doe

**12:17pm, ~150h:**

'What do you mean? I don't wait on any lab results form you or is his body found', Beckett asks with a quiver in her voice.

'Relax, I don't have Castle downstairs. The good news is I have a big lead for your investigation.'

Beckett notice that she has hold her breath starts breathing again, 'So if that is the good news why are the next ones getting worse?'

'I got the results for the bullet used to kill the John Doe, it is the same gun used during the abduction of Castle. The worse part is I can't identify the body.'

'How come so?'

'The fish and crabs had a field day on him, eaten away his face and the flesh on his hands. And the victim seems to be a brawler, nearly all his tooth's are missing, only a couple ones and some roots are left. Yesterday I called Dr. Murray to come and take a look at him. He is downstairs, but as I got the ballistic results I thought it would be best to inform you right away.'

'I will accompany you downstairs and you can fill me in with all the facts you learned so far, but give me a second to get the things rolling up here.' Glancing through the bullpen she sees Esposito standing on the far side of the room at Karpowski's desk. 'ESPOSITO', she yells, softening it with a smile as he looks at her. Beckoning him over to herself, she stands up.

'What can I do for you', Esposito asks as he arrives at the desk.

'You are no longer lead in the John Doe investigation, I take over. Could you inform Captain Montgomery about it, please.' And with that the two women leave a stunned Esposito behind them.

Looking around he sees Ryan with a cup of coffee coming his way, 'Do you know why Beckett wants to be the lead investigator in the floater case?'

'What? I don't anything about it, but after the way she fought for staying on Castle case, my guess is the two cases overlap each other.

**12:26 pm, ~150h:**

The two women are heading down the corridor towards the morgue and Lanie is filling Beckett into the facts, 'Older male between fifty-five and sixty-five, one GSW to the back of the head as cause of death, with his state of decomposition I would say he is between fourteen and twenty days dead.'

'Why do you believe he his a brawler?'  
'He has a lot of older injuries, broken rips, arm, nose and cheekbone all concurrent with getting beaten up.'  
'How many matches did you and Esposito have for missing persons?'

'None went missing in the last three weeks matching the data we have for the victim. Nation wide it would be three, but for them it would be a rush job to come to NY.'

The rest of the way the two walk in silence.

They enter the morgue and find Dr. Murray engrossed in a phone call.

'I try to convince them. …. You are right, it is a case calling for you. …. Yeah, as soon they agree I will send you everything. …. I know that you have met him on your book promotion. …. I'll call you back, bye.'

Looking up he realizes that he is no longer alone, 'Detective Beckett, it seems I never meet you under better circumstances.'  
'Dr. Murray, that is the burden with our jobs we have to live with that. So can you help us identifying the victim', she replies and steps over to the body on the gurney. 'What happened with his hands?'

'Besides the fish and crabs bite marks, he also had rheumatism combined with articular gout. And I am sorry, I can't help you identify him. But I know someone who possibly is capable of doing it.'

'The person you just talked on the phone with?'  
'Indeed, she works at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington as a forensic anthropologist, specialized in identifying bones. She has identified over 400 dead soldiers from WW II. And she works on cases for the FBI as a consultant.'

'Let's assume I would let her in on this case, when can she be here?'

Grimacing Dr. Murray says, 'That is not the most efficient way, I would send her the body and clothes per express mail and it would be with her this evening. And she can starts with boiling.'

'You just lost me, why should she start with cooking?'

'I never said she starts cooking. She is after all specialized in bones, so she will remove the flesh first and the most common method is boiling.'

Beckett paler than usual turns to Lanie, 'Can you find anything new with the body here?'

'No, I can't.'

'Okay she is in, send the body. When will we have first results?'

Scratching his bold head Dr. Murray answer, 'Tomorrow morning you may get a sketch of how our dead friend here looked like alive. But I can't guaranty that you will get an ID.'

'That is fine with me, as long as I try everything possible I can look into a mirror.'

**12:40 pm, ~150h:**

Beckett returns to her desk, only to see all the people she needs to inform already gathering around it, namely Captain Montgomery, Esposito, Ryan and Karpowski.

'As you all know I will take over the lead in the floating John Doe case, because it is directly connected with Castle. He was killed with the same gun at least a week before Castle went AWOL. To get an ID for our John, Dr. Murray will send it to a specialist in Washington, we may get a sketch of the dead tomorrow, so with all of this said I propose that we clock out early and come back tomorrow well rested. Because we will show the sketch to all person Castle knows, there has to be a connection between the two.'

Captain Montgomery nods, 'Sounds like a good plan or does anyone have a lead which needs to be checked out?'

All detectives shake their head.

**1:50 pm, ~151h:**

Beckett takes a deep breath, the last time she went through this door was five days ago fully armed. She raise her hand and knocks. Martha opens the door, 'Hello, Kate. Do you have good news.'

Beckett takes a look in both directions of the corridor, 'I have good and bad news Ms. Rogers, but it would be best we wouldn't discuss them in the corridor.'

'Oh, where are my manners. Come in Kate.'

The two enter the apartment and with a resounding boom the door close behind them.

_AN: Crossover? Yeah it would been possibly here, but I already have enough problems keeping track of the characters of Castle alone. But at least I have build the chance to use this in later fanfics :)_


	11. New hope

**1:50 pm, ~151h:**

Beckett is lead to the couch, taking a seat she wonders if the apartment was always that big or that it appears so, because Castle with his childish humor is missing.

'So what bad news do you have for me', Martha inquiries.

Beckett leans into her direction and tells her everything she has learned from Lanie this morning and finishes with the accepted offer from Dr. Murray.

'Where does that leaves us?'

'Ms. Rogers as soon as I have the sketch I will come over here again, maybe you or Alexis can identify him.'

After a short burst of hollow and sarcastic laughter Martha asks, 'And what will you do if you can't identify him?'

'If Dr. Murray specialist also can't present a positive ID for our John Doe we could go public with his sketch and with the media blackout for Castles disappearance still working, we may get lucky. At least less nut jobs would pester the tip line. But that is our last resort, because it may scare the person who has Castle into a rush decision we may not like.'

**6:30 pm, ~156h:**

Beckett parks her car at the family dinner. Seeing that her dad is already waiting she hurry's to get out of it. The first thing she does as she reaches him is to hug him with all the penned up emotions she has.

'How is my princess holding up.'

'It is like mothers case repeats itself', she replies as she is lead by him into the dinner.

**9:35 am, ~170h:**

'That was fast, the sketch is here.' All the detectives gather around Becketts desk to get a good view of the monitor.

'A distinguished looking fellow was he', Karpowski says.

'Yeah, but after what I have seen of him in the morgue, the sketch artist must be a romantic', Esposito disagrees.

'Let's fetch a couple of copies for each of us', Beckett orders. 'When you have finished your group of guys and come back just leave a note on the board what you got of the persons you met. So we split up in this way Esposito shows the sketch to his pseudo-girlfriends, Karpowski visits the fan mail writers, Ryan checks with the financial guys and I will check with Alexis, Ms. Rogers, his sources and persons of interest from former cases I can lay my hand on.'

'Why me? Couldn't I get the hot girls for a change', Ryan asks.

'No, you have a girlfriend. But you can also pick up a couple of extra copies and plant them in every department of the precinct, maybe we sit on the solution and don't know it', Beckett counters.

**11:17 am, ~172h:**

The traffic was murderous today, she needed longer than usual to get to Castles apartment building. On her way up to his apartment she already has questioned George and got her first blank with that. The doorman has never seen their John Doe.

Standing in front of the door waiting that Martha opens the it for her she compose herself. She has to be strong especially for Alexis. The door opens and there is Alexis.

'Kate', she says and steps forward and engulf her in a hug. 'My dad is in the hands of a killer?'

'Let's go inside Alexis, I am happy that the media blackout is still working and we should not discuss the matter out here.'

She nearly get carried into the apartment by Alexis. She waits that the door is closed before she answers, 'It is true your Dad is most likely in the hands of a murderer, but that doesn't mean he can't be alright.' She pulls her back into the embrace to comfort her and herself. After a couple of minutes she let go and produces the sketch, 'Did you have seen this man with your father?'

Alexis takes it and heads to the couch, 'No, I can't say so. But Dad tried very hard to keep me out of the boring business details.'

Martha comes down the stairs and intercept Alexis, taking the sketch out of her hand and giving it a good look, 'Oh my what a handsome man.' Looking up she adds, 'I would remember a man like that for sure, a shame he is dead.'

'Grandma!'

Taking in Marthas shaking hands Beckett says, 'Alexis, why don't you leave us alone for a moment.'

After looking at both women Alexis dashes up to her room.

'How are you holding up, Martha', Beckett asks as she leads the elderly woman to the coach.

'This is something no mother should experience, it is simply not how things should work out.'  
Putting a comforting hand on her back Beckett starts, 'I know what you mean. The worst, but in the end most rewarding case I worked in the last years was the kidnapping of a small child. Carrying her on my arms to her parent, while seeing the endless joy and happiness in the parent eyes, these moments I like the most.'

Martha chuckles, 'I would like to see you trying that with Richard.'

'For you I would do it.'

**10:15 pm, ~183h:**

Beckett leaves the bar in which she met with Mr. Tenor, but the mobster didn't remember to have seen the man on the sketch either. He was her last chance to find someone connecting Castle with John Doe. And knowing that the other detectives would have called her instantly if they have found anything she knows that it is a dead end again. 'I hate this case!' And she could nearly hear Castle say, 'Isn't it great.'

_AN: Thanks for the reviews so far. I thought about the one from Caskett and I hope that Beckett don't come around all that cold. Because I put small indicators of her being hardly affected all over the story. But I wont let her run around to emotional, imho she would fall back to the time before Castle showed up, a no nonsense cop, don't showing her emotions. Because that is her coping mechanism, building a wall and don't let anyone in or at least that is my take on her. _

_**Spoiler: **Next chapter Castle will have his big reappearance, it is really time for him back in this fanfic._


	12. A break through in the case?

**10:12am, ~219h:**

The three detectives are at their desks and after two days of showing the sketch to various people from mobster to major the spirits are down by all of them.

Beckett's phone rings, 'Detective Beckett … morning Lanie … That are great news, send the file up … Send my regards to the specialist.'

Turning to the others, she smiles, 'Got a new break in the case, John Doe is identified.'

'But what if he disappeared like Castle without a trace', Ryan asks.

Beckett smile is wiped from her face, Esposito, his neck vein pulsing shouts, 'RYAN.'

Realizing what he has done, he adds lamely, 'Or we get the dirt bag now.'

Beckett turns to check her email account. 'Come on', she murmurs, after seeing that the file isn't there.

Esposito and Ryan close in, so that they can see the screen over her shoulder, while Beckett refresh it every 30 seconds or so.

'What takes her so long to send us the file', after a quick glance on her watch she adds, 'it was nearly a quarter hour ago I talked with her.'

'It is a long way from the morgue to up here', Lanie complains holding up a flash drive.

Esposito and Ryan exchange a worried look and close in on Beckett unconscious, like brothers would do when they perceive a threat to their sister.

'Lanie, why are you up here? You could have send the file per mail', Beckett interrogates.

'I want to give you my cliff notes before you dig into the file, because these guys at the Jeffersonian seem to be a little bit blunt with the facts in their reports. Although they did a terrific job identifying our victim so fast.'

'Come on, Lanie we don't have all the day for discussing style of writing a report', Beckett presses to get the information.

'Okay girlfriend. The name of our deceased is Mike Winters …'

'The MLB umpire? That can't be I have seen him last week on TV', Esposito says.

'If you would just let me finish my sentences you would know that he is clearly not John Doe. It is Winters the writer. He vanished in June 2008 from his house in L.A. And was never seen again after that. Before that he wrote a series of love books, playing in medieval times. He also was co-author from episodes of various TV series, "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" and "Alias" are the most famous series he wrote for.'

'Lanie', Beckett interrupts, 'so far there is no need for you to hand deliver the file. And how did they come up with him anyways. In that time span there must be a couple of hundred missing person matching the profile of Mr. Winters.'

Lanie looking uncomfortable, takes a couple of shallow breaths. 'The broken bones in his arm and cheekbone didn't heal due of malnutrition and these were dated between one and two years old. The malnutrition was so severe that it morphed into a form of scurvy, explaining the loss of tooth's. Additional the forensic anthropologist found a deformation of his right leg and hip, which she has seen in some older cases. That was confirmed by findings of metal particles found in his leg before they removed the flesh. All these facts supported the theory that the person went at least two and a half years prior to his death missing. The forensic anthropologist could make a positive ID with an documented, older injury of his left knee.'

'Lanie, what older cases and are they connected with this case?'

'I doubt it, because these were 18th century prisoners.'

'You lost me, how are these prisoners connected to the time span Mr. Winters went missing?'

'Because they were restraint with ball-and-chain and it takes some time to get these deformations on the leg and hip. But the worst part is ….'

**Unknown time, ?h:**

Castle shifts his weight in the chair, grimacing because of the pain in his whole upper body and the heavy chain is skinning his ankle. 'Where is a Sam-I-am when you need one, this would be heaven for him.' He has just finished his fourteenth meal. These MRE don't taste good, but the longer he is here the better they taste, that really worries him. But they are his only way to keep track of time, fourteen days of hell he has counted so far. While he tries to make up his mind what next to do, he thinks back on the first time he woke up.

_Castle wakes up with a splitting headache, blurry vision and pain in his left leg, which lets him flinch as he tries to get into a better position on the shabby couch. Having a chain on his right ankle, which is connected to a metal pillar doesn't help him achieve a more comfortable position. The room is only sparely lit with a neon lamp and eerily quiet, but at this moment he is thankfully for it, because it helps him with his splitting headache. He sees a desk with something on it and a chair in one corner and an old bed in the other. A big and rusty metal door dominates the wall between these corners. 'What happened', murmurs he as he tries to remember why he is struck in this cellar. He nearly jumps out of his skin as the metal door opens with a movie like creak, the sudden bright light shining through the door feels like dagger being stick into his eyes. And with the clicking of her heels a woman enters the room. 'Kate, is it you?' 'No, Richard, it's me Nikki. You have lost and I control you', is the chilling answer from her._

The memory of that moment still gives him goose bumps.

'CASTLE, don't idle around.'

'Crap, she sneaked up on me again. But then she would have found another reason anyway', he thinks as he tries to cover his head.

**10:39 am, ~219h:**

'But the worst part is Mr. White was beaten repeatedly in the time he was held captive', Lanie finishes her report.

'And how can these magical wizards of science know that', a pale Ryan asks.

'Besides the broken bones as clear indicators of blunt force trauma, which I assumed are from bar fights. His malnutrition lead to somewhat brittle bones. During later beatings microscopic chips broke of the bone and the different state of healing proof that these beatings weren't one time events.'

Taking the last information in they all look at a very pale and shocked Beckett. The two detectives waiting for instructions what to do now, trusting in Beckett. And Lanie worrying if Kate can handle the gruesome details.

_AN: I hope I didn't made to big medical mistakes above. _

_After I watched the latest episode I was swearing like a trooper, not because it was bad. No, they had nearly same victim like me, okay different gender. I thought about changing the story, but didn't come up with a good scenario I liked, only got CIA, aliens and Illuminati._

_The best alternative was Chloe Richardson as the culprit, but then I would have to explain why nobody has recognize her and change the meal number from fourteenth to fifth. Make everything Castle related above a flashback and let him lick water from the walls and leave Castle to starve in his dungeon (Yeah I know, I am a heartless monster ;)). So I will stick to my story line, not better for him, but he has something to eat. And more important I know where I am heading to._


	13. Guest

**10:50 am, ~219h:**

Beckett goes mentally a couple of times over the gained information. Although feeling sick, because of the gruesome findings the specialist made, she feels relieved, because Castle chances of getting out of the mess alive raises and he didn't dig into her mothers case again.

Looking up she simply ignores the worried looks from her friends and starts to give out instructions. 'Thanks Lanie, did the guys at the Jeffersonian finished all tests?'

'No, they are trying some exotic ones, perhaps they can provide us with some insights where Mr. Winters was held.'

'Till then let's continue with normal police methods. Esposito try to find all registered owner of a Kel-Tec PF9, who moved from L.A. To N.Y. after 2008. I will inform the family of Mr. Winters that he was found. And Ryan get in contact with the LAPD, let's see what information they can provide us.'

'Shoot! I totally forgot that Dr. Brennan had already contacted the LAPD through her FBI contact, so that these files should arrive here soon.'

'Crap', Beckett exclaims, 'as long as we don't know which FBI agent gets the case we assume that Mr. Winters was taken in N.Y. But we are still checking his contacts in L.A. out, because they may know something.'

Ryan and Esposito nod in understanding, only Lanie stands there with a confused expression on her face. 'I don't understand why this helping gesture leads to such an outbreak.'

Beckett explains, 'If Mr. Winters was taken in L.A. the FBI can claim jurisdiction, taken here we can stay the lead investigators. And I don't want one uninterested FBI agent run this case against the wall.'

The two other detectives nod one more time in agreement.

**5:17 pm, ~226h:**

After Esposito had send his request to the NYPD License Bureau, he helps Ryan sorting through the files they have received so far from the LAPD. A lot of the files were digital, some need to be digitized before they are send to the NYPD. The most important one of these are the security tapes.

Hearing the sounds of approaching heals clicking on the floor from behind him, Esposito says without turning around, 'Still no to both, Beckett.'

'No to what', a unfamiliar female voice asks. Startled Esposito turns around. Seeing the athletic woman clad in a black suit, white blouse and her long blond hairs tied back in a pigtail his chin drops. Recovering from his surprise he asks, 'And you are?'

Flashing her badge she states matter of fact, 'FBI, Agent Crawford.'  
'How may the NYPD help the FBI', he asks, while silently swearing.

**5:43 pm, ~226h:**

'I don't see it that way', a upset Beckett says. 'At best it is inconclusive where Mr. Winters was taken. The files my team reviewed so far never were able to pinpoint the location. We are only double checking them for clues, which were without relevance before Castle's abduction.'

'Why wont you let me in on the case, Detective' a agitated Agent Crawford wants to know.

'No, that I never have said. You can participate as long the NYPD keeps the lead in the investigation', Beckett offers a treaty.

'Deal, so what did you uncover so far', Crawford agrees eagerly.

'We are still waiting for important files and a profile from our therapist Dr. Holloway', Beckett evades a clear answer. 'But our medical examiner expects an update any minute, so why don't we two head to the morgue.'

Esposito following the FBI Agent with his eyes says, 'That was so "Clash of the Titans".'

'Yeah, right', says a distracted Ryan, 'the last scanned files just come in, do you want half of them?'

First Esposito checks his email account, 'Why not, I'm still waiting on the list of moved weapons owner.'

**06:05 pm, ~227h:**

The three woman are standing in the middle of the morgue. After a brief introduction of Lanie to the Agent, Lanie starts with her report. 'Nothing new from Dr. Brennan, but the guy responsible for particles could flush something out of Mr. Winters lungs. He found asbestos in combination with rook wool. And in that particular combination it was only used to insulate factory's in the late 70's.'

'So he was held in a abandoned factory?'

'In a way that is correct, but it doesn't necessary need to be an abandoned house right now. Depending on when it was remodeled, it could be now an apartment complex. But if you have suspects, one with a new house and the second is in the possession of a remodeled factory. I would strip search the second one.'

'Thanks Lanie, or do you have something to add? Okay, then Agent Crawford and me will be on our way,' Beckett says.

Returning to the bullpen they see a grinning Esposito watch how a furious Ryan goes berserk on the phone. 'If you can't get it done that way, then send us copies per express. Damn it, if you had send them this morning I could already be watching them.' After hanging the phone up Ryan face palms himself.

'Let me guess, the tapes will be here tomorrow', Beckett asks.

'Indeed, but the list of moved weapons owner arrived.'

'Great, crosscheck them with owner of factorys build in the 70's or remodeled into apartments recently.'

**Unknown time, ?h:**

Castle can't believe what he has done, but she liked it so much she granted him one of the few days without punishment. He can't stand it anymore, even if it would mean that his worst nightmares break free, he has to stop it. Preparing his sixteenth meal he starts plotting. In the end he comes up with an easy plan: She has to die … They all have to die.


	14. Reunion

**4:15 am, ~237h:**

The bullpen is quite, except for Beckett's team. After they got the notice that the tapes will arrive between 4 and 5 am, they decided to go home early and meet at the precinct at 4am.

'How many matches did you have', Beckett asks Esposito.

'So far 27 hits, 19 women and 8 men have a clear connection to a old factory', Esposito answers. 'But without a different search parameter, it is only a indication they may be connected, no judge will file a warrant on that. And we can't be sure that none of the others have a hidden connection to a factory building', he qualifies his former statement.

Ryan returns huffing and carrying a box full of VCR tapes to his desk. 'Finally the tapes are here!'

'So which method will you use screening the tapes?'

'Of course I will work the tapes chronological beginning with the first, because they couldn't provide us with a date Winters was taken. And we will see if I can spot something suspicious, while Winters was going in and out of his apartment.'  
Beckett turns around and nearly stumbles over Agent Crawford.

'Something new' the agent asks.

'To early to say, Ryan will start with the tapes in a couple of minutes. I'm on my way to Karpowski. Want to join me?'

'Sure I want.' The two head over to the conference room. The room looks more like a postal office, everywhere boxes with fan mail.

'Did someone wrote both authors'; Crawford asks.

'Unfortunately they attracted a totally different type of readers. The LAPD checked the threatening writers in great detail. If the person wrote unsuspicious letters under different names to them, he may get away with it.'

'Keep going', Beckett says.

On the way back to her desk Dr. Holloway joins them. 'You are up quite early, Doctor', Beckett states.

'I was at an emergency intervention and I wanted to drop you a note about my non results on your desk. I didn't expect all of you here. I reviewed the facts you provided to me, but I'm sorry there is to less information for an empiric conclusion. There are simply to many possibilities for the behavior of the kidnapper.'

'You couldn't even make a educated guess about age or gender?'

'Sorry Detectives, even for that the data is to ambiguous. Cases like the current one aren't all that common. So I don't have a database to fall back on.'

'Thanks for trying, have a good night Doc', Beckett concludes the conversation.

She takes a seat at her desk, only to get a good nudge by Agent Crawford. She looks up with wonder in her eyes.

'Are these two always that close?'  
Turning she sees Esposito, nearly his chin lying on Ryan's shoulder, breathing down his neck. 'Only when there is something good on the screen. It will get better, in the end they will nearly cuddle together.'

On the screen is a couple nearly making out in front of Mr. Winters apartment, a lot of necking and teasing is going on. As the man intensifies his kisses on the neck and the earlobe of the blond woman, she turns her head towards the surveillance camera. While they watch the chins of both male detectives drop.

'I know her', both exclaim. Turning to each other they ask in unison, 'How can you know her?'

'Becketts evil twin', Ryan says, 'and you?'

'A suspect from the weapons owner list.'

Beckett follows their conversation, 'I need a name and address **right now**!'

Picking up the phone she hits in a phone number. 'Judge Markway, this is Detective Beckett speaking. I need your signature on a warrant … I know, that it is before 5am ...Castle may be there …. Thought so,' Esposito hands her a piece of paper with a name and address on it. Glancing at it she adds, 'You are on our way there. We will stop for the signature. Bye.'

Glancing over her shoulder she says,' Call the ESU team and tell them to met us two blocks north of the address and grab the DMV picture of her.' During this command she opens a document on her PC. After filling only the name and address in she hits print. 'Lets get rolling', she commands while grabbing her weapon.

**5:34am, ~238h:**

After a a quick stop at the Judge's house, so he can scribble his signature on the search warrant they meet the ESU team. 'What is the status', Beckett asks as she approaches the team leader, with whom she stormed so many hideouts before.

'I have dispatched a car with a attached thermal camera for a drive by. What is this case about?'

'This is our suspect', she gives him the DMV picture. 'And Castle may be held by her, make sure your men are informed.'

'Holy mackerel! This is about Castle, I like this guy', the Lieutenant interrupts.

'Can the car provides us with a live feed or do we need to wait for his return?'

'Yeah, we can watch it in our command center', leading her to the nondescript truck he opens the side door revealing a high tech command stand with a well stocked armory.

'When will they pass the house', he asks the man at the screens.

'Three minutes until they reach the building.'

'Call us then. Let me show you the latest blue prints , we were able to pull.'

Leading her to the far end of the trailer he pulls the prints up on a laptop. 'The blue prints were submitted for the remodeling. The factory was split into three separate apartments. Your suspect lives in the north one.'

'Lieutenant, the car will pass in any second', the officer observing the screens calls out.

They hurry back to the screens.'So there is the target', the sitting officer says.

Taking in the different screens, one with the thermal view and another which shows a normal view of the building Beckett leans against the chair.

The officer comments the pictures of the thermal camera, 'One person in the first apartment, none in the second and a couple in the last one.' Picking up the radio the Lieutenant calls his intel gathering officers, 'X-ray Bravo, can you set up a stationary position covering the north apartment?' 'Eagle one, clear copy. No problem, boss. There are empty parking lots on the opposite street side', is the reply.

'How do you want to play this one', the Lieutenant asks.

'I don't like it, Mike. But I think we have to breach. How many men do you have at your disposal?'

'Ten to breach, two sniper for covering fire and the two intel for backup.'

'Okay I have four. What do you think about this plan? You split up into two teams and enter through the front door and the terrace. My team enters through the back door completing the pincer movement.'

'Sounds like a rush job, I would prefer a longer stake out to know 100% against what we move, but under the circumstances it is the best plan we could come up with.'

'Give me five minutes to inform my team and get our stuff out. Then we can move into position.'

**6:18 am, ~239h:**

Castle spits blood on the bare cement floor. He leans hard on the desk, every breath hurts like hell and blood runs into his eyes. He hears the main door open and then the dreaded clicking heals hitting the floor. He also hears other person entering. 'Crap this time she has brought friends with her', he thinks.

'What's done, is done! You can't change it,' he says and puts his arms around his head and tries to get into the best fetal position the desk and chair allows.

**6:07am, ~239h:**

Beckett and her team take up position on both sides of the back door. With a hiss their earpieces starts a radio call, 'Person moves to the rear of the apartment.' They press even harder against the wall besides the door. 'Person made a left turn', is the next radio message. Beckett pears through the glass parts of the door and is able to see her move inside the room on the right side, which seems to be a bathroom. Tapping her radio she whispers into the microphone, 'Rear one has eyes on target. Start the countdown!' 'Overwatch to all units, breach in five .. four .. three .. two', Esposito moves in front of the door', one .. go,go,go.' Esposito kicks in the door and moves back out of the way, reaching for his AR-15. As soon as the way is clear Beckett moves into the house making the shortest route to the room with the suspect, yelling 'NYPD, we have a warrant.'

From other parts of the house similar sounds are heard. Startled the woman starts to turn, but Beckett interferes, 'FREEZE, SHOW ME YOUR HANDS!' The bathroom smells of roses, because the woman is letting herself a bath in. Moving closer, covered by Agent Crawford she orders, 'Turn around, slowly.' The woman turns around slowly.

Beckett takes a sharp breath, the front of the blouse is covered in blood splatters. Beckett snaps, with a fast step forward she is in the woman, pushing her against the wall and jams the muzzle of her gun under her chin. 'Where is he', Beckett whispers threatening. 'He is downstairs in the bomb shelter', the terrified woman reply.

Beckett grabs her at the collar of her blouse and with a quick move forces her to nosedive on the floor. Turning to the door Beckett sees two officers from the ESU entering, 'You two take her of her, frisk and handcuff her. You know the drill. Let's roll.' Without waiting for her stunned coworker she storms out of the bathroom searching for the stairways.

**6:17 am, ~239h:**

Beckett and her two detectives are standing in front of the main door to the bomb shelter. All three look at each other, not sure what they will find behind the door, if it will be their friend or a corpse. 'Let's get it over with', Esposito says.

On a nod Ryan opens the door and Beckett enters the room first followed by Esposito and Ryan. Beckett heads straight to the person sitting at the desk on the far side, whom they identify instantly as Castle, while the two detectives checks the sides for surprises.

'What's done, is done! You can't change it,' Castle says and moves into a fetal position.

'Castle, it's me Beckett.'

'You fooled me once with that, a second time will never happen,' comes the muffled reply from him.

'Castle, it is really us', Ryan calls out.

Castle turns in his chair, 'It is really you guys, after two weeks I thought that I am stuck here.' He looks at his friends, but as his gaze comes near Beckett he looks down on the floor.

The three are shocked by his looks, cuts and bruises all over his face, some cuts still bleeding. 'Castle, you were only 10 days gone', says a confused Ryan.

Now Castle is shocked.

Agent Crawford enters the shelter and says, 'The EMTs are on their way.'

'Agent Crawford, what are you doing here?'

'Mr. Castle, you know whenever a child is abducted the FBI takes jurisdiction of the case, even when it in your case only applies for the mental capabilities', she teases him.

This at least brings something like a smile on his battered face. 'Did you get yourself something against the cold hands of yours?'

'I got leather gloves', she replies, waving her hand at him.

Beckett steps closer to him, reaching out with her hand, but after he flinches she drops her hand by her side. 'What did you do to get a treatment like that?'

And for the first time he looks up and makes eye contact with Beckett. 'I killed her … killed all of them', he says with a grin like a maniac on his face.

_AN: I planned to release ch13 and 14 as one, but with the cliffhangers at the end of __both I had to split them. I have a lot of work coming up, so I may need a little more time for the next chapter._


	15. Motive

**6:22am:**

'Whom did you kill', Beckett asks with a tremulous tone in her voice.

'I killed …', and with his smile there is the 9 year boy on the sugar rush back, even if it is only for a short moment, ' … Nikki Heat or to be more precise the whole cast.'

'How and why did you do it?'

'She wanted me to write for her, I tried to piss her off, but the things I wrote didn't have the effects I wanted. Even as I went so far to have Rook, Raley and Ochoa get into a intimate relationship she wasn't discouraged. In fact she liked it so much she didn't beat me up for a full day.'

The detectives exchange a quick look, the story and the way he tells it, remind them of the numerous wives beaten up by their husbands.

'So I decided to let them all boarder a private jet to some Law Enforcement Congress, jet goes down, no survivors. I think the ten liner should be lying on the floor somewhere nearby.'

'So that is the motive', Ryan says, 'I wonder what the other guy wrote to get a bullet to the head.'

Castle pales under the bruises, realizing that he played with a very dangerous fire, 'What other guy?'

'Don't worry Castle, we have everything under control,' Beckett assure him.

The EMT come into the room and converge around Castle, starting with a vast array of tests to determine how severe he was injured and what the best treatment is.

The detectives step back and Beckett takes her cellphone out of her vest. Hitting the speed dial she waits for someone to pick up. 'Good morning, Alexis … NO, good news we found him and he is under the circumstances well …. Right now the EMT take care of him …. Yeah, I will.' Turning to the nearest fireman she asks, 'To which hospital will you bring him?'

'St. Michaels', the fireman responds, refocusing on the work at hand he turns himself shouting across the room, 'Jimmy, go up and bring the big angular grinder we need it to cut the chain from his ankle.'

Putting her cellphone back to her ear Beckett starts. 'They bring him to St. Michaels …. No, nobody is cutting his ankle off, they need to cut a chain …. See you at the hospital.' Before she put her cell away, she remembers to call Captain Montgomery, dialing his number her gaze wanders back to Castle, taking in every detail of him.

'Morning, Captain Montgomery … That's right we found him … Yeah, you can call the Mayor and let him know he don't need someone else for his poker evening … Motive? So far it seems to be related to them being writers … Don't know why she killed him, we will know more after an interrogation of her … Right you didn't know, her name is Michelle Summers … I'll fill you in with all the details later at the precinct.'

Meanwhile the firemen got rid of the chain and put Castle on the stretcher. Stepping to Esposito she says, 'You have this scene, search for evidence that connects her to Winters and what motivated her to take these two different writer. I am going with Castle.'

'On it boss, I call CSU in,' is his short reply.

Beckett uses the short drive to the hospital to take a look at her feelings and is still at a loss, because there were so many different in a short time: fear, rage, relief, joy, desire and doubt to name a few.

**7:11am:**

Beckett leans at the door frame, taking in the heart warming moment. Martha stands at the bottom end of the bed, tears of joy streaming open down her face and Alexis is nearly lying on the bed, while holding on to her farther.

'Dad, I should have stayed with you having breakfast and you wouldn't be here. Nothing would have happened if I had eaten my porridge', Alexis says with a weak voice, while looking at the floor.

Castle grabs her head and pulls her to him, planting a kiss on her forehead and after forcing her to look into his eyes, he simply says, 'It is not your fault, that a lunatic picks me. You bolted every time I made this dish, so I knew you would do it, and in the end it is solely the fault of your grandmother that I got shot anyway.'

Beckett takes two quick steps into the room, before she sees Castle boyish grin on his face. Martha looks at her son in disbelieve, 'How can you say such a ridiculous thing, Richard?'

'Quite easy, she slipped on a empty champagne bottle and shot me accidentally. So if you didn't had the party or cleaned up behind yourself I would not have been shot.'

'These are mere details, in the end it was the lunatic wrong doing' , quickly changing the topic she adds, 'Why aren't you in the ER?'

'They checked me out on the way over here and the worst I have are broken rips, a old gunshot wound and a couple of cuts. And after all it is Sunday morning.'

'What does the weekday have to do with it?'

'A lot of people don't work on the weekends, so instead of relaxing they get drunk. Resulting in a lot more bar fights, shootings and drunk driver hitting a tree. And the rest gets into domestic trouble.' And like an afterthought he says into her general direction, 'Isn't that right, Detective?'

'Yes, that is right', she says and thinks, 'There is it again, why can't he look me into the eyes, what is he hiding?'

Taking a quick look at her fathers watch she states, 'I have to go to the precinct, I have to get a confession.'

**7:45am:**

Beckett arrives at the bull pen, only to find it empty. She expected that some are still at the apartment, but that none is back doesn't sit right. So she walks over to the interrogation rooms. She don't want to interrupt any ongoing interrogations, so she opens the door to the observation room and finds Captain Montgomery starring intense through the one way mirror. Surprised he turns to her, 'Didn't expect you back so soon', he starts, 'so I send Ryan with Karpowski in.'

'How far did they get her?'

'Astonishingly she don't resists, talks without ending and it is really disturbing. You know what reason she gave for shooting Winters?' Beckett shakes her head. 'Because of his rheumatism he wasn't able to write anymore, took him out and shoot him without remorse. He was useless for her. If he would have simply denied to write for her, there were ways to break him she states, like starving or a couple of well timed beatings. She is what we have in mind, when we talk about monsters.'

'But why take them in the first place and these two different authors?'

'Because both wrote about a strong woman and she wants to be the only one reading about them.'

Beckett taken aback by his words stands at the door and thinks about what to do. 'I will let these two finish the interrogation, no need in disturbing a willing and talking criminal. I am at my desk doing paperwork.'

After a nod of the captain she closes the door and heads back to her desk. Letting herself drop into her chair a cold shiver runs down her spine, while imagining what could have happen to Castle, if they didn't found him so soon. And it would have been her fault and hers only.

**1:20pm, four days later:**

Beckett stands in the break room and smells at the delicious coffee she just brew. The coffee smells even better knowing that Castle is back, not fully recovered naturally, but he is here none the less. She strolls back to her desk, taking a sip of coffee every few steps. And there he is, sitting in her chair and going through the paper work lying on the desk, a bad habit of him she doesn't like at all, even if that's the way it should be. Coming to a stop behind the chair she simply says in a commanding voice, 'Castle.'

What happens next she didn't foresee Castle bends down in the chair in a nearly comical manner bringing up his arms around his head. Because he hits the desk with his elbow his cup with his coffee falls over and spills it over the paper work. After a second he relaxes taking in what mess his coffee has made and turns around with a confused and hurt look in his eyes. 'I .. I .. will get .. some paper towels', he stampers and nearly storms away, leaving a shocked Beckett behind him.

She senses that someone steps besides her, taking a quick glance she sees Dr. Holloway. 'It is not your fault', he says, 'you just approached him in the same manner Ms. Summers used before starting to beat him. So his body just reacted on that memory, you will need to give him time to shake off these.' And with that he leaves to follow Castle.

'But what will happen if he can't overcome these memories', she whispers, observing the two men talking in the break room.

_AN: I hope you liked my beginners take of the famous "main character gets kidnapped" theme and that at least a couple of my twists took you by surprise. And that you take a look at my follow up: Beach boys, where Beckett and Castle will spent time at a couple of beaches, with a story line that is hopefully not used before. I will try to bring a little bit more emotions into play, so that the characters seem more life like._


End file.
